I experienced less stress in my hardest semester of college (I took extra classes, was a Resident Counselor, was active in my sorority, AND did other stuff) than I did in all four years of high school. I did the IB mess in HS, and it was the most stressful, competitive thing I've ever dealt with in my life (and I go to a so-called "hard" college). My classmates (40 of them, some of which I had gone to school with since kindergarten!) were extremely competitive when it came to class rank and SAT scores. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that academic pressure now I'm in college.
Plus, there was a lot of social pressure. People were really status-conscious, and that would add a lot of stress (I'm talking about kids who would turn down a really good school and go to a local school so their parents would buy them a new car). I'm so glad I'm away from all that mess.
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